Reclining chair of the multiple movement type



Sept. 12, 1967 P. s. FLETCHER RECLINING CHAIR OF THE MULTIPLE MOVEMENTTYPE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 18, 1964 4 Q M 4 a z a 4; v I Z [0 I1, d m m a 1 z .Jw 7 -w a w; m M I 2 b y M w Dr H. 1 Z PM fl 0 W w. J Mh 7. |l. Z M" .H... G w J H 1 /7yy\ 7z' l i /i 4 73 a INVENTOR.

P5712 5. FLETCHER ATrOR/Vfyj P. S. FLETCHER RECLINING CHAIR OF THEMULTIPLE MOVEMENT TYPE Filed March 18, 1964 Sept. 12, 1 967 4Sheets-Sheet 2 1 NVEN TOR. PTE/Q -S. FLJETCl/Ek BY g 2 2 fl znlaxs P 12,6 P. s FLETCHER 3,341,249

RECLINING CHAIR OF THE MULTIPLE MOVEMENT TYPE Filed March 18, 1964 4Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 4

FIGS.

INVENTOR. As 7.52 \5. Fzrcyg mim Sept. 12, 1967 P. s. FLETCHER RECLININGCHAIR OF THE MULTIPLE MOVEMENT TYPE Filed March 18, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet4 INVENTOR. PETE/Q s, FLATCMQ Patented Sept. 12, 1967 3,341,249RECLINING CHAR OF THE MULTIPLE MOVEMENT TYPE Peter S. Fletcher, 200 NW.15th St., Delray Beach, Fla. 33444 Filed Mar. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 352,8915 Claims. (Cl. 297-85) The present invention relates generally toreclining chairs and specifically to a lounger-type of reclining chairwhich has a built-in, positive, and self-acting tendency for the seatand back-rest to assume its upright sitting pos1- tion, with theleg-rest completely collapsed, when the seat and back-rest are near thatposition and when the chair is either occupied or unoccupied.

One of the flaws of many of the commercially available reclining chairsis the undesirable propensity of the leg-rest of the chair to assume aless than fully collapsed position and of the body-supporting unit toassume a pos1- tion slightly rearwardly of the upright sitting position.This results in an unkempt appearance since the leg-rest hangsdownwardly from its design position at or under the front of the seat ofthe chair.

The well-defined principle of physics that systems tend to assume aposition of equilibrium with their centers of .gravity at the lowestpossible point is, of course, fully applicable to the reclining chairart. Specifically, where the center of gravity of the moving elements ofthe reclining chair, that is, the seat and the back-rest, is at a pointwhich is rearwardly of the point in space about which theseat andback-rest rotate at any given instance, the seat and back-rest will haveno tendency to rotate forwardly about that pivot point and, therefore,will not have a tendency to assume its upright sitting position. In thiscase, the chair will be relatively easy to operate, but the seat andback-rest will not move to the extreme of the upright sitting positionand the weight of the leg-rest and its associated links will have atendency to cause the leg-rest to hang downwardly from its fullycollapsed position. Conversely, when the center of gravity of the seatand back-rest system is forwardly of the point in space which is thecenter of rotation of the system, the system will tend to move forwardlyand downwardly to reach the point of least energy. Normally, when thechair is in the upright position or close thereto, the center of gravityof the moving system with a chair occupant is forwardly of the center ofgravity of that same system without the chair occupant. This is clearsince most of the chair occupants weight is resting upon the seat ratherthan the backrest. Accordingly, in almost all reclining chairs, when thechair occupant gets up, the center of gravity of the seat and back-restsystem moves still further rearwardly with respect to the point ofrotation of the moving system thus tending to make the seat andback-rest system rotate rearwardly away from the fully closed, uprightsitting position.

This tendency may be overcome by a number of corrective devices.Obviously, the provision of a tension spring to bias the seat andback-rest in a forwardly direction could be utilized. However, thisexpedient is undesirable since the -bias force of the spring must beovercome in order to move the seat and back-rest system from the uprightsitting position into either the intermediate, tilted sitting positionor the fully reclined position. A second possibility is to build asufiicient amount of friction into the mounting linkage such that themere weight of the unoccupied seat and back-rest is insufiicient to movethat system rearwardly. This expedient too has severe disadvantages inthat it adds a further force which must be overcome in order to operatethe chair. Furthermore, it provides no positive means to close the chairbut merely adds friction to keep the chair from opening. In addition,

there is a basic flaw in any mechanical addition to a system since theadditional means provides an additional possible point of malfunctionand such additions often provide adverse effects in addition to theirdesirable effects.

By far the most satisfactory method of solving this problem is thepositioning of the center of gravity of the seat and back-rest system ata point where the natural tendency of the unoccupied chair is to assumethe upright sitting position rather than the intermediate, tiltedsitting position, i.e., where gravity causes the unit to fall intorather than fall out of the upright sitting position. However, thissolution of the problem also has disadvantages.

Specifically, if the center of gravity is forwardly of the center ofrotation of the seat and back-rest system when the chair is unoccupied,the center of gravity will automatically move still further forwardlywhen-the chair occupant sits on the seat. Since in the normal recliningchair there is a slight upward movement of the seat as it begins thefirst movement phase, the forward movement of the center of gravity willincrease the difiiculty of moving the seat and back-rest out of theupright sitting position since more of the occupants weight will have tobe lifted initially. Thus, although such an arrangement solves theproblem of the chair moving out of the fully closed, upright position ornot assuming that position when the chair occupant gets up, a newproblem of hard operation is created. It is desirable in a recliningchair to provide both the features of easy operation and an inherenttendency of the chair to assume the upright sitting position with theleg-rest in its fully retracted or folded state.

Accordingly, it is generally the object of thepresent invention toprovide a reclining chair of the lounger type which obviates one or moreof the disadvantages existing in the prior art chair. Specifically, itis an object of the present invention to provide a reclining chair ofthe lounger type which is both easy to operate and which inherently hasa tendency to assume an upright sitting position when the chair isunoccupied.

It is further within the contemplation of the present invention toprovide a reclining chair wherein the arrangement of the mountinglinkage for the seat and back-rest system is such that the chair has aninherent tendency to assume the upright sitting position when thatsystem is close to the upright sitting position.

In accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present inventionthere is provided a reclining chair comprising a frame andbody-supporting means including a seat and back-rest mounted on theframe for movement through a first movement phase from an uprightsitting position to an intermediate, tilted sitting position. During thefirst movement phase, the included angle between the seat and theback-rest remains substantially uniform. The body-supporting unitthereafter moves through a second movement phase from the intermediate,tilted sitting position to a fully reclined position with the anglebetween the seat and back-rest increasing. Means are provided to mountthe seat and back-rest on the frame for guided movement as recited. Themounting means includes ,a carrier link pivotally mounted on the frameat a carrier link pivot, a front guide link pivotally connected to thecarrier link at a front pivotal mount and pivotally connected to theseat at a front guide link pivot and a back-rest guide link pivotallymounted at one end on the frame at a rear pivotal mount and pivotallyconnected at its opposite or upper end to the back-rest at a back-restpivot. The seat and back-rest are pivotally connected together at apoint spaced forwardly from the back-rest pivot. The front guide linkand the back-rest guide link both pivot rearwardly about the front andrear pivotal mounts, respectively, during the first movement phase totransport the seat and back-rest rearwardly, substantially no changetaking place in the included angl therebetween. A first holding link ispivotally connected to the body-supporting means at a point rearwardlyof the front guide link pivot and forwardly of the seat-backrest pivotwhich holding link moves during the first movement phase tosubstantially maintain the angle between the seat and the back-rest.Second movement links include a bell crank lever which is pivotallyconnected to the carrier link at a first pivot and is connected at oneof its ends to the first holding link at a second pivot. The secondmovement links also include a second holding link pivotally connected tothe other end of the bell crank lever at a third pivot and pivotallymounted on the frame at a second movement holding pivot. The secondmovement links move with respect to each other and with respect to theframe during the second movement phase to open up the angle between theseat and the back-rest. Appropriate stop means are provided to definethe upright sitting position and the fully reclined position. Inaddition, a leg-rest and leg-rest mounting linkage is provided to mountthe leg-rest for movement upwardly and outwardly with respect to theseat in response to initial movement of the seat and back-rest duringthe first movement phase.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features andadvantages of the present invention, will be best appreciated byreference to the following detailed description of one presentlypreferred embodiment, when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, with portions broken away forpurposes of illustration, showing one presently preferred embodiment ofthe present invention with the chair being depicted in the uprightsitting position and with the leg-rest shown in its corresponding fullycollapsed position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 but showing the chair in itsintermediate, tilted sitting position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the chair in its fullyreclined posiion;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, with portions broken away forpurposes of illustration, of another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention with the chair being depicted in the upright sitting positionand with the legrest shown in its corresponding fully collapsedposition, the leg-rest in this embodiment being of the folded type;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 but showing the chair in itsintermediate, tilted sitting position; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the chair in its fullyreclined position.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings there is shown a reclining chair,generally designated by the numeral 10, which is illustrative of thepresent invention. The reclining chair 10 includes a support or frame 12having conventional arms or side rails 14, 16 which are structurallyjoined together by appropriate cross braces 18. A bodysupporting unit,generally designated by the numeral 20, is mounted for movement withinthe frame 12 and includes a seat 22 and back-rest 24 which are pivotallyinterconnected as will be described below. A leg-rest 26 is mounted onthe chair 10 and has a movement associated with the movement of thebody-supporting unit.

The seat 22 and back-rest 24 are supported within the frame 12 by anappropriate mounting linkage 28 for movement through a first movementphase from the upright sitting position illustrated in FIG. 1 to theintermediate, tilted sitting position as illustraed in FIG. 2. Duringthe first-movement phase the seat and back-rest translate and rotatesomewhat rearwardly with the angle between the seat and back-restremaining substantially fixed. The seat 22 and back-rest 24 may thenmove through a second movement phase to the fully reclined position asillustrated in FIG. 3 during which the angle between the seat andback-rest is increased to provide a position for more completerelaxation.

The leg-rest 26 is mounted on the chair 10 by means of a leg-restmounting linkage 30. The leg-rest moves from its position beneath theforward end of the seat 22, as shown in FIG. 1, to its extendedleg-supporting position, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in response tomovement of the seat 22 through the first movement phase. As will beseen by comparing FIGS. 2 and 3, the legrest 26 maintains its extendedleg-supporting position during the second movement phase.

The mounting means 28 for the body-supporting unit 20 includes a carrierlink 32 which is mounted on the frame 12 on a carrier link pivot 34 andrests on a stop 31 on the frame 12 when the seat 22 and back-rest 24 arein the upright sitting position and the intermediate, tilted sittingposition. A front guide link 36 is pivotally mounted at a front pivotalmount 38 on the forward end of the carrier link 32 and is pivotallyconnected to the seat 22 at a front guide link pivot 40. The front guidelink pivot 40 is formed on a mounting strap-22a conveniently securedalong the lower edge of the seat 22. The mounting strap 22a extendsrearwardly of the seat 22 through an upwardly extension 22b andterminates at a seat-backrest pivot 42, at which location the seat 22 ispivotally joined to the back-rest 24. A back-rest mounting strap 24a isconveniently secured to the back-rest 24 and the seat-back-rest pivot 42is formed at the forward end thereof. A back-rest guide link 44 issecured at its lower end to the frame 12 at a rear pivotal mount 46 andis connected to the back-rest 24 at the rear end of the backrest strap24a at the back-rest pivot 48.

As may be seen by comparing FIGS. 1 and 2, the bodysupporting unit 20 isguided through the first movement phase by the rearward rotation of thefront guide link 36 about the front pivotal mount 38 and the back-restguide link 44 about the rear pivotal mount 46. A stop 50 on the seatstrap 22a engages the front guide link 36 to support the weight of thechair occupant in the upright sitting position and a second stop 52,also on the seat strap 22a, engages one of the links of the leg-restmounting linkage to halt rotation of the front guide link 36 and todefine the intermediate, tilted sitting position.

The angle between the seat 22 and the back-rest 24 is maintainedsubstantially uniform during the first movement phase by the operationof a first holding link 54. The first holding link 54 is pivotallyconnected to the seat 22 at a pivot point 58 spaced rearwardly ofthefront guide link pivot 40. The effect of the first holding link 54 isto serve as a stop during the first movement to maintain a substantiallyconstant angle between the seat 22 and backrest 24, as will be describedbelow.

Second movement links are provided which include, a bell crank lever 60and a second holding link 62. The bell crank lever 60 has the normalthree pivot points and is connected at the first pivot 64 intermediateits ends to the carrier link 32. The bell crank lever 60 is pivotallyconnected to the first holding link 54 at a second pivot point 66 and isconnected to the second movement link 62 at the third pivot point 68.The second holding link 62 is pivotally mounted on the frame 12 at thesecond movement holding pivot 70 which is conveniently provided on amounting plate 70a secured to the support 12. As will be seen bycomparing FIGS. 1 and 2, the bell crank lever 60, the carrier link 32and the second holding link 62 remain stationary during the firstmovement phase, thus providing a substantially fixed pivot, the secondpivot 66, for the first holding link 54 during the first movement phase.Accordingly, during the first movement phase, and as the front guidelink 36 and the back-rest guide link 44 pivot rearwardly, the holdinglink 54 similarly pivots rearwardly about the stationary second pivot 66and provides support for the rearward portion of the seat 22 to maintainthe substantially constant angular relationship between the seat 22 andthe back-rest 24.

Reference may be made to my co-pending application Ser. No. 303,201entitled Improved Reclining Chair of the Multiple Movement Type for amore generalized description of the utilization of a holding link inreclining chairs. The first holding link 54 essentially functions as astop between the seat 22 and the back-rest 24 during the first motionphase to substantially prevent movement about the seat-back-rest pivot42. However, in accordance with the present invention, a small initialmovement is provided between the seat 22 and back-rest 24 at thebeginning of the first movement phase in order to introduce a levereffect to aid the chair occupant in lifting his weight and the weight ofthe seat 22 at the beginning of the first movement phase. The frontguide link 36 and the holding link 54 are both inclined forwardly andupwardly in the upright sitting position. Accordingly, initial movementof the seat 22 in the first movement phase has a relatively largevertical component thus requiring the chair occupant to work against theforce of gravity in order to move the body-supporting means 20 out ofthe upright sitting position. The ease of this operation in the chair isenhanced by the utilization of the relatively long lever arm constitutedby the back-rest 24. Specifically, the backrest 24 may be considered asa lever pivoted about the back-rest pivot 48 serving as a fulcrum,upward force being applied to the seat 22 at the seat-back-rest pivot42. Due to the paths of motion of the front guide link 36 and theholding link 54 (which define the path of movement of the seat 22) andthe path of movement of the backrest link 44 (which in combination withthe movement of the seat 22 defines the path of movement of theback-rest 24), there is a small initial change in the angularrelationship between the seat 22 and the back-rest 24 at the beginningof the first movement phase. Although this change is relatively small,it is sufiicient to enable the chair occupant to utilize the back-rest24 as a lever to lift the seat 22 and his own weight upwardly toovercome the gravitational force on the moving system of the seat 22,the back-rest 24 and the chair occupant, which force tends to keep thebody-supporting unit 20 in the upright sitting position. Of course, assoon as the initial movement out of the upright sitting position hasbeen accomplished, the path of movement of the seat 22 is substantiallyrearwardly such that no further leverage action by the back-rest 24 isnecessary. Accordingly, the angle between the seat and back-rest may bethereafter maintained or, if desirable, may be returned to its initialangle. As may be appreciated from studying the drawings of the chair 10,only a very slight initial change of angle is necessary in order toprovide the advantageous function described above.

The leg-rest linkage 30 is actuated during the first movement phase tomove from the collapsed position shown in FIG. 1 to the extended,leg-supporting position shown in FIG. 2. The leg-rest linkage 30 isdriven from a downward extension 72 of the first holding link 54 whichrotates forwardly about the second pivot 66 during the first movementphase. This forward movement is translated through the pivot 73 to aconnecting link 74 to drive the linkage 30. The linkage 30 includes afirst link 76 which is pivotally connected to the seat 22 at the frontguide link pivot 40 and is pivoted intermediate its ends, at pivot 78,to the connecting link 74. At its forward end, the first link 76 isconnected to a second link 80 at the pivotal connection 82 which link,in turn, is connected to the leg-rest 26 at the first leg-rest pivot 84.The forward end of the connecting link 74 is connected to a thirdleg-rest link 86 at pivot 88. The link 86 is connected at its other endsto the fourth leg-rest link 90- at pivot 92 which link is also connectedto the leg-rest 26 at the second leg-rest pivot 94. The links 80 and 86are pivotally interconnected at their cross over point 96. As may beseen in the drawings, a raised stop 98 is provided on the link 86 topositively define the collapsed position of the leg-rest position 26(see FIG. 1). The stop 52 engages the link 76 at the end of the firstmovement phase to define the intermediate, tilted sitting position andhalt further extension of the leg-rest linkage 30. The leg-rest linkage30 provides a slightly rising path of movement to the leg-rest 26 as itinitially moves outwardly from its collapsed position. Accordingly, oncethe leg-rest 26 has approached its fully collapsed position as shown inFIG. 1, it has a natural tendency to fall into and assume its fullycollapsed position. The path of movement of the leg-rest 26 has beenindicated approximately by the dotted line in FIG. 1 of the drawings.Accordingly, the leg-rest mounting linkage 30 cooperates with thelinkage 28 to insure that the elements of the chair 10 assume the fullycollapsed, upright position when the chair occupant gets up.

Movement of the body-supporting unit 20 from the intermediate, tiltedsitting position of FIG. 2 to the fully reclined position of FIG. 3 isinstituted by the application of rearward pressure on the back-rest 24by the chair occupant. In response to such movement, the carrier link 32pivots upwardly from the stop 31 about the carrier link pivot 34 raisingthe front guide link 36 and the front of the seat 22. As the carrierlink 32 rotates upwardly, the bell crank lever 60 of the second movementlinks is translated upwardly at its intermediate pivot 64. The thirdpivot 68 of the bell crank lever 60 is held downward by the secondholding link 62 such that there is a controlled upward movement of theopposite end of the lever 60 at the second pivot 66 which is connectedto the first holding link 54. Accordingly, the first holding link 54 israised upwardly during the second movement phase such that the positionof the seat 22 in the fully reclined position is defined by itsconnections to the front guide link 36 and the first holding link 54.Movement of the seat 22 during the second movement phase may be viewedas being controlled by a four-bar linkage having the support 12 betweenthe pivots 34 and 70 as the stationary link. The second holding link 62,the bell crank lever 60 and the carrier link 32 are the movable links ofthe four-bar linkage. The seat 22 is directly attached to this four-barlinkage since the front guide link 36 is more or less stationaryrelative to the seat 22 and the first holding link 54 is blockedrelative to the seat 22 by the action of stop 52 on leg-rest link 76during the second movement phase. The effective connection of the seat22 to the four-bar linkage is at extensions of the two movable links 32and 60 at the front pivotal mount 38 and the second bell crank pivot 66respectively.

The position of the seat 22, through the pivotal connection 42 of theseat 22 to the back-rest 24, controls the position of the back-rest assupported by the back-rest guide link 44. As may be appreciated byinspecting FIGS. 2 and 3, the back-rest link 44 remains more or lessstationary during the second movement phase. This is accomplished by theuse of the second holding link 62 which has the effect of a stopsupporting link 44 in a stationary position. The second holding link 62,by controlling the seat movement in such a way that the seat-backrestpivot 42 moves in an are about a fixed point in the vicinity of pivot 48on the back-rest when the chair is in the intermediate, tilted sittingposition, holds the backrest link 44 in much the same manner as a stopengaging its rear surface. As will be best appreciated by comparingFIGS. 2 and 3, the angle between the seat 22 and backrest 24 varies fromthe intermediate, tilted sitting position to the fully reclined positionand specifically, that angle increases to provide a more relaxedposition for the chair occupant.

The termination of the second movement phase is defined by a lost motionstop and sequencing mechanism generally designated by the numeral 100and specifically by pin 102 as it engages the upper end of a slot 104 inlink 107. The pin 102 is mounted on the end of extension 106 of thefront guide link 36 and the slot 104 is formed in the lost motion link107 which is pivotally mounted on the support at the pivot 108. Thepivot 108 is effectively coaxial with the front pivotal mount 38 on thecarrier member 32 when the carrier member 32 is in either the uprightsitting position or the intermediate, tilted sitting position. In eachof these positions, as will be seen from inspecting FIGS. 1 and 2 thepin 102 is in the inner end of the slot, i.e., the end closest the pivot108. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the lost motionmechanism 100 serves as an automatic sequencing means in addition to itsstop functions. Specifically, the reception of the pin 102 in the slot104, and the angular orientation of the lost motion link 107 withrespect to the path of travel of the carrier link 32, makes itimpossible for the carrier link 32 to pivot upwardly about the carrierlink pivot 34 until the intermediate, tilted sitting position has beenachieved. Accordingly, the raising of the carrier link 32 and the startof the second movement phase cannot be accomplished until theintermediate, tilted sitting position has been reached.

A further stop 109 is provided on the frame 12, and specifically on themounting plate 70a, and is positioned to engage the second holding link62 at the end of the second movement phase (see dotted lineconfiguration of FIG. 3). This provides further positive stop means todefine the fully reclined position of the body-supporting unit 20 andalso prevents links 62 and 60 from going past dead center.

The foregoing description of the reclining chair will be more fullyunderstood by considering the following description of a typicalsequence of operation:

With the chair 10 in the position shown in FIG. 1, and specifically withthe seat 22 and back-rest 24 in the upright sitting position, the chairoccupant presses rearwardly on the back-rest 24 to initiate movement tothe first movement phase. Due to the mechanical advantage of therelatively long lever arm of the back-rest 24 about the back-rest pivot48 as a fulcrum and the seat-back-rest pivot 42 as the point ofapplication of pressure, the seat 22 and back-rest 24 are moved slightlyupwardly and rearwardly through a tilting motion with the front guidelink 36 and the back-rest guide link 44 rotating rearwardly about therespective front and rear pivotal mounts 38, 46. The relative positionof the back-rest 24 with respect to the seat 22 during the firstmovement phase is governed by the first holding link 54 which pivotsrearwardly about the second pivot 66 of the bell crank lever 60. As thebody-supporting unit is moved from the upright sitting position of FIG.1 to the intermediate, tilted sitting position of FIG. 2, the downwardextension 72 of the first holding link 54 is effective through the pivot73 to the connecting link 74, to extend the leg-rest linkage and to movethe leg-rest 26 from its collapsed position below the seat 22 to itsextended, leg-supporting position forwardly of the seat 22.

Upon further rearward pressure on the back-rest 24 by the chairoccupant, movement of the body-supporting unit 20 through the secondmovement phase is initiated. The carrier link 32 pivots upwardly aboutthe carrier link pivot 34 to raise and further tilt the seat 22. As thecarrier link 32 is rotated upwardly, the second movement links 60 and 62begin operation to guide the rearward end of the seat 22 and theseat-back-rest pivot 42 along an appropriate path such that theback-rest 24, supported by the back-rest guide link 44, assumes aposition such that the angle between the seat 22 and the back-rest 24 issubstantially increased as compared with the intermediate, tiltedsitting position. Upon abutment of the pin 102 with the end of the lostmotion slot 104, and upon engagement of the second holding link 62 withthe stop 109, the second movement phase is terminated and the fullyreclined position is established.

In order to collapse the chair 10 from the fully reclined position ofFIG. 3 to the intermediate, tilted sitting position of FIG. 2 andsubsequently to the upright sitting position of FIG. 1, the occupantmerely moves his Weight forwardly in reverse procedure to that recitedabove.

It will be appreciated that the reclining chair 10 according to thepresent invention provides a structure wherein the center of gravity ofthe moving body-supporting unit 20, when it is adjacent the uprightsitting position, i forwardly of the point in space about which thatmoving system rotates. Accordingly, there is a natural tendency for theunoccupied chair to assume its upright sitting position. Specifically,there is a tendency, under the force of gravity, for the seat 22 andback-rest 24 to fall downwardly into the upright sitting position withthe front guide link 36 and the holding link 54 rotating forwardly anddownwardly under the influence of gravity. Furthermore, the leg-restlinkage 30 provided in association with the chair 10 is such that theleg-rest 26 also demonstrates a tendency to fall into its completelycollapsed position. Furthermore, due to the mechanical advantage whichis achieved by the relatively long lever arm of the back-rest 24 aboutthe back-rest pivot 48 and the arrangement of the point application ofthe lever force at the seat-back-rest pivot 42, it is relatively easyfor a chair occupant to overcome the gravity forces to institutemovement of the seat and back-rest unit 20 out of the upright sittingposition and through the first and second movement phases.

Now referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, there is shown a second embodiment ofthe present invention, constituting a reclining chair generallydesignated by the numeral 110, which is similar to the chair 10described above. The reclining chair includes a support or frame 112having conventional arms or side rails 114, 116 which are structurallyjoined together by appropriate cross braces 118. The frame 112 issupported above the ground by conventional legs 119 and the chair itselfis of the type designated in the trade as a high-leg chair. Abody-supporting unit 120 is mounted for movement within the frame 112and includes the seat 122 and back-rest 124 which are pivotallyinterconnected as will be described below. A legrest 126, including itsassociated folded extension 126a, is mounted on the chair 110 and has amovement associated with the movement of the body-supporting unit 120.

The seat 122 and back-rest 124 are supported within the frame 112 by anappropriate mounting linkage 128 for movement through a first movementphase from the upright sitting position illustrated in FIG. 4 to theintermediate, tilted itting position as illustrated in FIG. 5. Duringthe first-movement phase the seat and back-rest translate and rotatesomewhat rearwardly with the angle between the seat and back-restremaining substantially fixed. The seat 122 and back-rest 124 may thenmove through a second movement phase to the fully reclined position asillustrated in FIG. 6 during which the angle between the seat anback-rest i increased to provide a position for more completerelaxation.

The leg-rest 126 and its extension 126a are mounted on the chair 110 bymeans of a leg-rest mounting linkage 130. The leg-rest moves from itsposition beneath the forward end of the seat 122, as shown in FIG. 4, toits extended, leg-supporting position, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, inresponse to movement of the seat 122 through the first movement phase.As will be seen by comparing FIGS. 5 and 6, the leg-rest 126 maintainsits extended, leg-supporting position during the second movement phase.

The mounting means 128 for the body-supporting unit 120 includes acarrier link 132 which is mounted on the frame 112 on a carrier linkpivot 134 and rests on a stop 131 on the frame 112 when the seat 122 andback-rest 124 are in the upright sitting position and the intermediate,tilting sitting position. A front guide link 136 is pivotally mounted ata front pivotal mount 138 on the forward end of the carrier link 132 andis pivotally connected to the seat 122 at a front guide link pivot 140.

The front guide link pivot 140 is formed on a mounting strap 122aconveniently secured to the seat along the lower inside part of the seatframe. The seat 122 is pivotally connected to the back-rest 124 at aseat-back-rest pivot 142. A bracket 123 is rigidly secured to theoutside of the seat 122 and a back-rest mounting strap 124a isconveniently secured to the back-rest 124 and the seatback-rest pivot142 is formed between the upper end of the bracket 123 and the forwardend of the strap 124a. A back-rest guide link 144 is secured at itslower end .to the frame 112 at a rear pivotal mount 146 and is connectedto the back-rest 124 at the rear end of the back-rest strap 124a at theback-rest pivot 148. The back-rest guide link 144 is curved as shown inFIGS. .5 and 6 to avoid the rear cross brace 118 during the first andsecond movement phases.

As may be seen by comparing FIGS. 4 and 5, the bodysupporting unit 120is guided through the first movement phase by the rearward rotation ofthe front guide link 136 about the front pivotal mount 138 and theback-rest guide link 144 about the rear pivotal mount 146. A stop 150 onthe seat strap 122a engages the front guide link 136 to support theweight of the chair occupant in the upright sitting position and asecond stop 152, also on the seat strap 122a, engages the first holdinglink 154, described below, to halt the first movement phase and todefine the intermediate, tilted sitting position.

The angle between the seat 122 and the back-rest 124 is maintainedsubstantially uniform during the first movement phase by the operationof a first holding link 154. The first holding link 154 is pivotallyconnected to the seat 122 at a pivot point 158 spaced rearwardly of thefront guide link pivot 140. The effect of the first holding link 154 isto serve as a stop during the first movement phase to maintain asubstantially constant angle between the seat 122 and back-rest 124, aswill be described below.

Second movement links are provided which include, a bell crank lever 160and a second holding link 162. The bell crank lever 160 has the normalthree pivot points and is connected at the first pivot point 164intermediate its ends to the carrier link 132. The bell-crank lever 160is pivotally connected to the first holding link 154 at a second pivotpoint 166 and is connected to the second movement link 162 at the thirdpivot point 168. The second holding link 162 is pivotally mounted on theframe 112 at the second movement holding pivot 170 which is convenientlyprovided on a mounting plate 17a secured to the support 112. As will beseen by comparing FIGS. 4 and 5, the bell-crank lever 160, the carrierlink 132, and the second holding link 162 remain stationary during thefirst movement phase, thus providing a substantially fixed pivot, thesecond pivot 166, for the first holding link 154 during the firstmovement phase. Accordingly, during the first movement phase and as thefront guide link 136 and the back-rest guide link 144 pivot rearwardly,the holding link 154 similarly pivots rearwardly about the stationarysecond pivot 166 and provides support for the rearward portion of theseat 122 to maintain the substantially constant angular relationshipbetween the seat 122 and backrest 124. The first holding link 154essentially functions as a stop between the seat 122 and the back-rest124 during the first motion phase to substantially prevent movementabout the seat-back-rest pivot 142. However, in accordance with thepresent invention, a small initial movement is provided between the seat122 and the back-rest 124 at the beginning of the first movement phasein order to introduce a lever effect to aid the chair occupant inlifting his weight and the weight of the seat 122 at the beginning ofthe first movement phase. The front guide link 136 and the holding link154 are both inclined forwardly and upwardly in the upright sittingposition. Accordingly, initial movement of the seat 122 in the firstmovement phase has a relatively large vertical component thus requiringthe chair occupant to work against the force of gravity in order to movethe body-supporting means out of the upright sitting position. The easeof this operation in the chair 10 is enhanced by the utilization of therelatively long lever arm constituted by the back-rest 124.Specifically, the back-rest 124 may be considered as a lever pivotedabout the back-rest pivot 148 serving as a fulcrum, upward force beingapplied to the seat 122 at the seat-back-rest pivot 142. Due to thepaths of motion of the front guide link 136 and the holding link 154(which define the path of movement of the seat 122) and the path ofmovement of the back-rest link 144 (which in combination with themovement of the seat 122 defines the path of movement of the back-rest124), there is a small initial change in the angular relationshipbetween the seat 122 and the back-rest 124 at the beginning of the firstmovement phase. Although this change is relatively small, it issufficient to enable the chair occupant to utilize the back-rest 124 asa lever to lift the seat 122 and his own Weight upwardly to overcome thegravitational force of the moving system of the seat 122, the back-rest124 and the chair occupant with force tends to keep the bodysuportingunit 120 in the upright sitting position. Of course, as soon as theinitial movement out of the upright sitting position has beenaccomplished, the path of movement of the seat 122 is no longer upwardlyso that no further leverage action by the back-rest 124 is necessary.Accordingly, the angle between the seat and back-rest may be thereaftermaintained, or, if desirable, may be returned to its initial angle. Asmay be appreciated from studying the drawings of the chair 110, only avery slight initial change of angle is necessary in order to provide theadvantageous function described above.

The leg-rest linkage is actuated during the first movement phase to movefrom the collapsed position shown in FIG. 3 to the extended,leg-supporting position shown in FIG. 4. The leg-rest linkage 130 isdriven from a downward extension 172 of the first holding link 154 whichrotates forwardly about the second pivot 166 during the first movementphase. This forward movement is translated through the pivot 173 to aconnecting link 174 to drive the linkage 130. The linkage 130 includes afirst link 176 which is pivotally connected to the seat 122 at the pivot177 and is pivoted intermediate its ends, at pivot 178, to theconnecting link 174. At its forward end, the first link 176 is connectedto a second link 180 at the intermediate pivotal connection 182 which inturn is connected to the leg-rest 126 at the first leg-rest pivot 184.The third leg-rest link 186 is connected to the second link 180 at pivot188 and is pivotally connected to the seat 122 at pivot point 189 on thestrap 122a spaced rearwardly from pivot 177. The link 176 is connectedintermediate its ends to the fourth leg-rest link 190 at pivot 192 whichlink is also connected to the leg-rest 126 at the second leg-rest pivot194. An extension 196 of link 190 drives the leg-rest extension 126athrough the connecting link 197 and its pivots 198, 199 with theleg-rest extension 126a being mounted on the leg-rest 126 at pivot 184to operate in the manner well known in the art for folding leg-rests. Astop 186a is mounted on the strap 122a and provides a positive stop forthe leg-rest mounting linkage 130 in the up-right sitting position. Thelegrest linkage 130 provides a slight rise in the path of movement tothe leg-rest 126 as it moves outwardly from its collapsed position.Accordingly, once the leg-rest 126 has approached its fully collapsedposition as shown in FIG. 4, it has a natural tendency to fall into andassume its fully collapsed position. The path of movement of theleg-rest 126 is generally similar to the dotted line path shown in FIG.1 of the drawings. Accordingly, the legrest mounting linkage 130cooperates with the linkage 128 to insure that the elements of the chair110 assume the fully collapsed, upright sitting position when the chairoccupants gets up.

Movement of the body-supporting unit 120 from the intermediate, tiltedsitting position of FIG. to the fully reclined position of FIG. 6 isinstituted by the application of rearward pressure on the back-rest 124by the chair occupant. In response to such movement, the carrier link132 pivots upwardly from the stop 131 about the carrier link 134 raisingthe front guide link 136 and the front of the seat 122. As the carrierlink 132 rotates upwardly, the bell crank lever 160 of the secondmovement links is translated upwardly at its intermediate pivot 164. Thethird pivot 168 of the bell crank lever 160 is held downward by thesecond holding link 162 such that there is a controlled upward movementof the opposite end of the lever 160 at the second pivot 166 which isconnected to the first holding link 154. Accordingly, the first holdinglink 154 is raised upwardly during the second movement phase such thatthe position of the seat 122 in the fully reclined position is definedby its connections to the front guide link 136 and the first holdinglink 154. Movement of the seat 122 during the second movement phase maybe viewed as being controlled by a four-bar linkage having the support112 between the pivots 134 and 170 as the stationary link. The secondholding link 162, the bell crank lever 160 and the carrier link 132 arethe mova-ble links of the four-bar linkage. The seat 122 is directlyattached to this four-bar linkage since the front guide link 136 is moreor less stationary relative to the seat 122 and the first holding link154 is rigid with the seat 122 during the second movement phase. Theconnection of the seat 122 to the four-bar linkage is at extensions ofthe two movable links 132 and 160 at the first pivotal mount 138 and thesecond bell crank pivot 166 respectively.

The position of the seat 122, through the pivotal connection 142 of theseat 122 to the back-seat 124, similarly controls the position of theback-rest as supported by the back-rest guide link 144. As may beappreciated by inspecting FIGS. 5 and 6, the back-rest link 144 remainsmore or less stationary during the second movement. This is accomplishedby the use of the second holding link 162 which has the effect of a stopsupporting link 144 in a stationary position. The second holding link162, by controlling the seat movement in such a way that theseat-back-rest pivot 142 moves in an are about a fixed point in thevicinity of pivot 148 on the back-rest when the chair is in theintermediate tilted sitting position, holds the back-rest link 144 inmuch the same manner as a stop engaging its rear surface. As will bebest appreciated by comparing FIGS. 5 and 6, the angle between the seat122 and back-rest 124 varies from the intermediate, tilted sittingposition to the fully reclined position and specifically, that angleincreases to provide a more relaxed position for the chair occupant.

The termination of the second movement phase is defined by a stop 200which is provided on the frame 112, and specifically on the mountingplate 170a, and is positioned to engage the second holding link 162 atthe end of the second movement phase (see dotted line configuration ofFIG. 6). This provides positive stop means to define the fully reclinedposition of the body-supporting unit 120 and also prevents links 162 and160 from going past dead center. A sequencing stop 201 is mounted on thesupport 112 adjacent the carrier link pivot 134 and is positioned toengage an extension of member 172 thereby providing positive blockingmeans preventing movement in the second movement phase until the firstmovement phase has been initiated and the link 154-172 has rotated outof blocking engagement with the sequencing pin 201.

The foregoing description of the reclining chair 110 will be more fullyunderstood by considering the following description of a typicalsequence of operation:

With the chair 110 in the position shown in FIG. 4, and specificallywith the seat 122 and back-rest 124 in the upright sitting position, thechair occupant presses rearwardly on the back-rest 124 to initiatemovement to the first movement phase. Due to the mechanical advantage ofthe relatively long lever arm of the back-rest 124 about the back-restpivot 148 as a fulcrum and the seatback-rest pivot 142 as the point ofapplication of pressure, the seat 122 and back-rest 124 are movedupwardly initially and then rearwardly through a tilting motion with thefront guide link 136 and the back-rest guide link 144 rotatingrearwardly about the respectively front and rear pivotal mounts 138,144. The relative position of the back-rest 124 with respect to the seatduring the first movement phase is governed by the first holding link154 which pivots rearwardly about the second pivot 166 of the bell cranklever 160. As the body-supporting unit is moved from the upright sittingposition of FIG. 4 to the intermediate, tilted sitting position of FIG.5, the downward extension 172 of the first holding link 154 iseffective, through the pivot 173 to the connecting link 174, to extendthe leg-rest linkage and to move the leg-rest 126 from its collapsedposition below the seat 122 to its extended, leg-supporting positionforwardly of the seat 122.

Upon further rearward pressure on the back-rest 124 by the chairoccupant, movement of the body-supporting unit 120 through the secondmovement phase is initiated. The carrier link 132 pivots upwardly aboutthe carrier link pivot to raise and further tilt the seat 122. As thecarrier link 132 is rotated upwardly, the second movement links and 162begin operation to guide the rearward end of the seat 122 and theseat-back-rest pivot 142 along an appropriate path such that theback-rest 124, supported by the back-rest guide link 144, assumes aposition such that the angle between the seat 122 and the back-rest 124is substantially increased as compared with the intermediate,tilted'sitting position. Upon abutment engagement of the second holdinglink 162 with the stop 200, the second movement phase is terminated andthe fully reclined position is established.

In order to collapse the chair 110 from the fully reclmed position ofFIG. 6 to the intermediate, tilted sitt ng position of FIG. 5 andsubsequently to the upright sitting position of FIG. 4, the occupantmerely moves his weight forwardly in reverse procedure to that recitedabove.

It will be appreciated that the reclining chair 110 according to thepresent invention provides a structure wherein the center of gravity ofthe moving body-supporting unit 120, when it is adjacent the uprightsitting position, is forwardly of the point in space about which thatmoving system rotates. Accordingly, there is a natural tendency for theunoccupied chair to assume its upright sitting position. Specifically,there is a tendency, under the force of gravity, for the seat 122 andback-rest 124 to fall downwardly into the upright sitting position withthe front guide link 1365 and the holding link 154 rotating forwardlyand downwardly under the influence of gravity. Furthermore, the leg-restlinkage 130 provided in association with the chair 110 is such that theleg-rest 126 also demonstrates a tendency to fall into its completelycollapsed position. Furthermore, due to the mechanical advantage whichis achieved by the relatively long lever arm of the back-rest 124 aboutthe back-rest pivot 148 and the arrangement of the point application ofthe lever force at the seat-back-rest pivot 142, it is relatively easyfor a chair occupant to overcome the gravity forces and to institutemovement of the seat and back-rest unit 120 out of the upright sittingposition and through the first and second movement phases.

It should be noted that in both embodiments the action of the firstholding link is such that it not only contributes to the upward movementof the seat initially and the consequent tendency of the chair to stayclosed, i.e., in the upright sitting position, but it also produces thedesiredinitial tilting of the back-rest which provides the lever effectused by the occupant to overcome the aforesaid tendency of the chair tostay closed. Thus, the arrangement of the holding link produces both ofthe de- 13 sired results, results which appear at first to be theantithesis of each other, i.e., the tendency of the-body-supporting unitto always move into the closed position and ease of chair occupant tomove the body-supporting unit out of the closed position.

Likewise, it should be noted that the arrangement of the leg-restmounting linkages in each of the two embodiments produces the tendencyof the leg-rests to assume their retracted positions. It will be seen inFIG. 1 that the leg-rest link 76 is lifted by the seat as the link 76swings forwardly. At the same time the first holding link 54 swings insuch a manner that pivot 73 at the lower end of extension 72 swingsdownwardly and forwardly initially. Thus, the connecting link 74 acts tolift the legrest as the latter swings forwardly.

In a similar manner the leg-rest link 176 and 186 of chair 110 in FIGS.4, 5 and 6 act to guide link 180 in such a manner that the leg-rest 126is moved upwardly initially as it is actuated. Because pivots 188 and189 on link 186 are more or less in line with pivot 177 between link 176and the seat strap 122a, pivot 188 (which is also on link 180) movesdownward faster than the middle pivot 182 on link 180. Thus, the frontpivot 184 on link 180 is lifted slightly to produce the desired elfecton the leg-rest 126 during its initial movement out of its retractedposition.

Although only two embodiments of the present invention have beenspecifically described above and illustrated in the drawings, numbers ofdesign changes may be made which do not depart from the basic teachingsof the present invention. Therefore, the following claims should beconstrued broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of theteachings of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A reclining chair comprising a frame, a body-supporting unitincluding a seat and a back-rest mounted on said frame for movement froman upright sitting position through a first movement phase, at thebeginning of which the angle between the seat and back-rest initiallyincreases, to an intermediate, tilted sitting position, the anglebetween said seat and back-rest being substantially the same in theupright sitting position and in the intermediate, tilted sittingposition, and for subsequent movement from said intermediate, tiltedsitting position through a second movement phase to a fully reclinedposition with the angle between said seat and back-rest substantiallyincreasing, a leg-rest mounted for movement from a stored positionbeneath the forward portion of said seat to an elevated leg-supportingposition in response to movement of said body-supporting unit in saidfirst movement phase with said leg-rest having an initial upwardcomponent of movement, means mounting said seat and back-rest on saidframe comprising a carrier link pivotally mounted on said frame at acarrier link pivot, a front guide link pivotally connected to saidcarrier link at a front pivotal mount and pivotally connected to saidseat at a front guide link pivot, said seat pivotally connected to saidback-rest at a seat-back-rest pivot, a back-rest guide link pivotallymounted at one end on said frame at a rear pivotal mount and pivotallyconnected at its opposite end .to said back-rest at a back-rest pivotspaced rearwardly from said seat-back-rest pivot, said front guide linkand said back-rest guide link pivoting rearwardly about said front andrear pivotal mounts respectively during said first movement phase, afirst holding link pivotally connected to said seat at a pointrearwardly of said front guide link pivot, and second movement linksconnecting said first holding link to said frame, said first holdinglink moving with respect to said second movement links during said firstmovement phase and moving with said front guide link for initiallyincreasing the angle between said seat and said back-rest during aninitial portion of said first movement phase and for maintaining saidangle in the intermediate, tilted sitting position substantially thesame as it is in the upright sitting position, said socond movementlinks including a bell-crank lever pivotally connected to said carrierlink at a first pivot and pivotally connected to said first holding linkat a second pivot and a second holding link pivotally connected at oneend to said bell-crank lever at a third pivot and pivotally mounted onsaid frame at a second movement holding pivot, said bell-crank leverpivoting with respect to said carrier link during said second movementphase for raising said first holding link and substantially opening theangle between said seat and back-rest during said second movement phase,stop means defining the upright sitting position and the fully reclinedposition of said seat and back-rest, and a leg-rest mounting linkagemounting said leg-rest for movement having an initial upward componentof motion from said stored position to said elevated, leg-supportingposition in response to initial movement of said seat and back-restduring said first movement phase.

2. A reclining chair comprising a frame, a body-supporting unitincluding a seat and a back-rest mounted on said frame for movement froman upright sitting position through a first movement phase, at thebeginning of which the angle between the seat and back-rest initiallyincreases, to an intermediate, tilted sitting position, the anglebetween said seat and back-rest being substantially the same in theupright sitting position and in the intermediate, tilted sittingposition, and for subsequent movement from said intermediate, tiltedsitting position through a second movement phase to a fully reclinedposition with the angle between said seat and back-rest substantiallyincreasing, a leg-rest mounted for movement from a stored positionbeneath the forward portion of said seat to an elevated leg-supportingposition in response to movement of said body-supporting unit in saidfirst movement phase with said leg-rest having an initial upwardcomponent of movement, means mounting said seat and back-rest on saidframe comprising a carrier link pivotally mounted on said frame at acarrier link pivot, a front guide link pivotally connected to saidcarrier link at a front pivotal mount and pivotally connected to saidseat at a front guide link pivot, said seat pivotally connected to saidback-rest at a seat-back-rest pivot, a back-rest guide link pivotallymounted at one end on said frame at a rear pivotal mount and pivotallyconnected at its opposite end to said back-rest pivot spaced rearwardlyfrom said seatback-rest pivot, said front guide link and said back-restguide link pivoting rearwardly about said front and rear pivotal mountsrespectively during said first movement phase, a first holding linkpivotally connected to said seat at a point rearwardly of said frontguide link pivot and forwardly of said seat-back-rest pivot, and secondmovement links connecting said first holding link to said frame, saidfirst holding link moving with respect to said second movement linksduring said first movement phase for initially increasing the anglebetween said seat and said back-rest during an intial portion thereofand for thereafter substantially maintaining said angle, said secondmovement links including a bell-crank lever pivotally connected to saidcarrier link at a first pivot and pivotally connected to said firstholding link at a second pivot, and a second holding link pivotallyconnected at one end to said bell-crank lever at a third pivot andpivotally mounted on said frame at a second movement holding pivot, saidsecond movement links moving with respect to said frame and each otherduring said second movement phase for substantially opening the anglebetween said seat and back-rest, stop means defining the upright sittingposition and the fully reclined position of said seat and back-rest, anda leg-rest mounting linkage mounting said leg-rest for initial movementinitially upwardly and outwardly of said seat from said stored positionto said elevated leg-supporting position in response to initial movementof said seat and back-rest during said first movement phase.

3. A reclining chair comprising a frame, a body-supporting unitincluding a seat and a back-rest mounted on said frame for movement froman upright sitting position through a first movement phase, at thebeginning of which the angle between the seat and back-rest initiallyincreases, to an intermediate, tilted sitting position, the anglebetween said seat and back-rest being substantially the same in theupright sitting position and in the intermediate, tilted sittingposition, and for subsequent movement from said intermediate, tiltedsitting position through a second movement phase to a fully reclinedposition with the angle between said seat and back-rest substantiallyincreasing, a leg-rest mounted for movement from a stored positionbeneath the forward portion of said seat to an elevated leg-supportingposition in response to movement of said body-supporting unit in saidfirst movement phase with said leg-rest having an initial upwardcomponent of movement, means mounting said seat and back-rest on saidframe comprising a carrier link pivotally mounted on said frame at acarrier link pivot, a front guide link pivotally connected to saidcarrier link at a front pivotal mount and pivotally connected to saidseat at a front guide link pivot, said seat pivotally connected to saidback-rest at a seat-back-rest pivot, a back-rest guide link pivotallymounted at one end on said frame at a rear pivotal mount and pivotallyconnected at its opposite end to said back-rest pivot spaced rearwardlyfrom said seat-back-rest pivot, said front guide link and said back-restguide link pivoting rearwardly about said front and rear pivotal mountsrespectively during said first movement phase, a first holding linkpivotally connected to said seat at a point rearwardly of said frontguide link pivot, and second movement links connecting said firstholding link to said frame, said first holding link moving with respectto said second movement links during said first movement phase forinitially increasing the angle between said seat and said back-restduring an initial portion thereof and for thereafter maintaining saidangle in the intermediate, tilted sitting position substantially thesame as it is in the upright sitting position, said second movementlinks including a bell-crank lever pivotally connected to said carrierlink and pivotally connected to said first holding link, and a secondholding link pivotally connected to said bellcrank lever and to saidframe, said second movement links moving during said second movementphase for opening the angle between said seat and back-rest during saidsecond movement phase, and a leg-rest mounting linkage mounting saidleg-rest for movement initially upwardly and outwardly of said seat fromsaid stored position to said leg-supporting position in response toinitial movement of said seat and back-rest during said first movementphase.

4. A reclining chair comprising a frame, a body-supporting unitincluding a seat and a back-rest mounted on same frame for movement froman upright sitting position through a first movement phase, at thebeginning of which the angle between the seat and back-rest initiallyincreases, to an intermediate, tilted sitting position, the anglebetween said said seat and back-rest being substantially the same in theintermediate, tilted sitting position as in the upright sittingposition, and for subsequent movement from said intermediate, tiltedsitting position through a second movement phase to a fully reclinedposition with the angle between said seat and back-rest substantiallyincreasing, a leg-rest mounted for movement from a stored positionbeneath the forward portion of said seat to an elevated leg-supportingposition in response to movement of said body-supporting unit in saidfirst movement phase with said leg-rest having an initial upwardcomponent of movement, means mounting said seat and back-rest on saidframe including a carrier link pivotally mounted on said frame at acarrier link pivot, a front guide link pivotally connected to saidcarrier link at a front pivotal mount and pivotally connected to saidseat at a front guide link pivot, a back-rest guide link pivotallymounted at one end on said frame at a rear pivotal mount and pivotallyconnected at its opposite end to said back-rest at a back-rest pivotspaced rearwardly from said seat-back-rest pivot, said front guide linkpivoting during said first movement phase about said front pivotal mountwhich remains stationary during said first movement phase, saidback-rest guide link pivoting during said first movement phase aboutsaid rear pivotal mount, means controlling said seat and back-rest toraise the seat at the rear thereof at the initial part of said firstmovement phase, said controlling means normally urging saidbody-supporting unit into said upright sitting position, said meansbeing arranged to tilt said back-rest slightly relative to said seat assaid body-supporting unit is moved initially out of said upright sittingposition to provide leverage to overcome said initial tendency of saidbodysupporting unit to stay in said upright sitting position, saidcontrol means including a first holding link pivotally connected to therear of said seat and operatively connected to said carrier link,leg-rest control means operatively connected to said leg-rest and tosaid body-supporting means for moving said leg-rest from said storedposition beneath the front of said seat to said elevated leg-supportingposition in response to said first movement phase and maintaining saidleg-rest in said position during said second movement phase, saidleg-rest control means moving said leg-rest upwardly and outwardly inits initial movement from said stored position, the weight of saidleg-rest normally urging said leg-rest into said stored position duringsaid initial movement.

5. A reclining chair comprising a frame, a body-supporting unitincluding a seat and a back-rest mounted on same frame for movement froman upright sitting position through a first movement phase, at thebeginning of which the angle between the seat and back-rest initiallyincreases, to an intermediate, tilted sitting position, the anglebetween said seat and back-rest being substantially the same in theintermediate, tilted sitting position as in the upright sittingposition, and for subsequent movement from said intermediate, tiltedsitting position through a second movement phase to a fully reclinedposition with the angle between said seat and back-rest substantiallyincreasing, a leg-rest mounted for movement from a stored positionbeneath the forward portion of said seat to an elevated leg-supportingposition in response to movement of said body-supporting unit in saidfirst movement phase with said leg-rest having an initial upwardcomponent of movement, means mounting said seat and back-rest on saidframe including a carrier link pivotally mounted on said frame at acarrier link pivot, a front guide link pivotally connected to saidcarrier link at a front pivotal mount and pivotally connected to saidseat at a front guide link pivot, a back-rest guide link pivotallymounted at one end on said frame at a rear pivotal mount and pivotallyconnected at its opposite end to said back-rest at a back-rest pivotspaced rearwardly from said seat-backrest pivot, said front guide linkpivoting during said first movement phase about said front pivotal mountwhich remains stationary during said first movement phase, saidback-rest guide link pivoting during said first movement phase aboutsaid rear pivotal mount, means controlling said seat and back-rest toraise the seat at the rear thereof at the initial part of said firstmovement phase, said controlling means normally urging saidbody-supporting unit into said upright sitting position, said meansbeing arranged to tilt said back-rest slightly relative to said seat assaid body-supporting unit is moved intially out of said upright sittingposition to provide leverage to overcome said initial tendency of saidbody-supporting unit to stay in said upright sitting position, saidcontrol means including a first holding link pivotally connected to therear of said seat and operatively connected to said carrier link, andleg-rest control means operatively connected to said leg-rest and tosaid body-supporting means for moving said leg rest initially upwardlyand outwardly from said SEQIQQ P S fiQI beneath the front of said seattosaid 17 18 elevated leg-supporting position in response to said first3,096,119 7/1963 Fletcher 297-85 movement phase and maintaining saidleg-rest in said 3,115,363 12/1963 Schliephacke 297-89 position duringsaid second movement phase. 3,137,521 6/1964 Re 297-322 X 3,162,482 12/1964 Katz 297-85 References Cited 5 FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATESPATENTS 891,144 3/1962 Great Britain.

3,039,815 6/1962 Fletcher 297, 322 X 3,043,221 7/1962 Fletcher 29785DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. 3,044, 2 7 1962 Be isle 297-316X 3,056,629 10/1962 Fletcher 297-316 10 FRANK SHERRY Examme" 3,069,20112/ 1962 Belisie et a1 297-316 X J. T. MCCALL, Assistant Examiner.

1. A RECLINING CHAIR COMPRISING A FRAME, A BODY-SUPPORTING UNITINCLUDING A SEAT AND A BACK-REST MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR MOVEMENT FROMAN UPRIGHT SITTING POSITION THROUGH A FIRST MOVEMENT PHASE, AT THEBEGINNING OF WHICH THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE SEAT AND BACK-REST INITIALLYINCREASES, TO AN INTERMEDIATE, TILTED SITTING POSITION, THE ANGLEBETWEEN SAID SEAT AND BACK-REST BEING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME IN THEUPRIGHT SITTING POSITION AND IN THE INTERMEDIATE, TILTED SITTINGPOSITION, AND FOR SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENT FROM SAID INTERMEDIATE, TILTEDSITTING POSITION THROUGH A SECOND MOVEMENT PHASE TO A FULLY RECLINEDPOSITION WITH THE ANGLE BETWEEN SAID SEAT AND BACK-REST SUBSTANTIALLYINCREASING, A LEG-REST MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT FROM A STORED POSITIONBENEATH THE FORWARD PORTION OF SAID SEAT TO AN ELEVATED LEG-SUPPORTINGPOSITION IN RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID BODY-SUPPORTING UNIT IN SAIDFIRST MOVEMENT PHASE WITH SAID LEG-REST HAVING AN INITIAL UPWARDCOMPONENT OF MOVEMENT, MEANS MOUNTING SAID SEAT AND BACK-REST ON SAIDFRAME COMPRISING A CARRIER LINK PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AT ACARRIER LINK PIVOT, A FRONT GUIDE LINK PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAIDCARRIER LINK AT A FRONT PIVOTAL MOUNT AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAIDSEAT AT A FRONT GUIDE LINK PIVOT, SAID SEAT PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAIDBACK-REST AT A SEAT-BACK-REST PIVOT, A BACK-REST GUIDE LINK PIVOTALLYMOUNTED AT ONE END ON SAID FRAME AT A REAR PIVOTAL MOUNT AND PIVOTALLYCONNECTED AT ITS OPPOSITE END TO SAID BACK-REST AT A BACK-REST PIVOTSPACED REARWARDLY FROM SAID SEAT-BACK-REST PIVOT, SAID FRONT GUIDE LINKAND SAID BACK-REST GUIDE LINK PIVOTING REARWARDLY ABOUT SAID FRONT ANDREAR PIVOTAL MOUNTS RESPECTIVELY DURING SAID FIRST MOVEMENT PHASE, AFIRST HOLDING LINK PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID SEAT AT A POINTREARWARDLY OF SAID FRONT GUIDE LINK PIVOT, AND SECOND MOVEMENT LINKSCONNECTING SAID FIRST HOLDING LINK TO SAID FRAME, SAID FIRST HOLDINGLINK MOVING WITH RESPECT TO SAID SECOND MOVEMENT LINKS DURING SAID FIRSTMOVEMENT PHASE AND MOVING WITH SAID FRONT GUIDE LINK FOR INITIALLYINCREASING THE ANGLE BETWEEN SAID SEAT AND SAID BACK-REST DURING ANINITIAL PORTION OF SAID FIRST MOVEMENT PHASE AND FOR MAINTAINING SAIDANGLE IN THE INTERMEDIATE, TILTED SITTING POSITION SUBSTANTIALLY THESAME AS IT IS IN THE UPRIGHT SITTING POSITION, SAID SECOND MOVEMENTLINKS INCLUDING A BELL-CRANK LEVER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID CARRIERLINK AT A FIRST PIVOT AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST HOLDING LINKAT A SECOND PIVOT AND A SECOND HOLDING LINK PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONEEND TO SAID BELL-CRANK LEVER AT A THIRD PIVOT AND PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ONSAID FRAME AT A SECOND MOVEMENT HOLDING PIVOT, SAID BELL-CRANK LEVERPIVOTING WITH RESPECT TO SAID CARRIER LINK DURING SAID SECOND MOVEMENTPHASE FOR RAISING SAID FIRST HOLDING LINK AND SUBSTANTIALLY OPENING THEANGLE BETWEEN SAID SEAT AND BACK-REST DURING SAID SECOND MOVEMENT PHASE,STOP MEANS DEFINING THE UPRIGHT SITTING POSITION AND THE FULLY RECLINEDPOSITION OF SAID SEAT AND BACK-REST, AND A LEG-REST MOUNTING LINKAGEMOUNTING SAID LEG-REST FOR MOVEMENT HAVING AN INITIAL UPWARD COMPONENTOF MOTION FROM SAID STORED POSITION TO SAID ELEVATED, LEG-SUPPORTINGPOSITION IN RESPONSE TO INITIAL MOVEMENT OF SAID SEAT AND BACK-RESTDURING SAID FIRST MOVEMENT PHASE.